Pandemic - Geoff A. Wilson (Paperback) 17-12-2023

In this dystopian novel the world is gripped by a deadly virus labelled by scientists as ‘Lethal Airborne Respiratory Disease’ (LARD 19). LARD 19 develops into the worst catastrophe that has befallen humanity since the 1918-1920 flu epidemic that killed between 20-50 million people worldwide, and since the bubonic plague pandemics of the 12th-15th centuries that killed hundreds of millions in Europe and abroad which irrevocably changed the socio-economic make-up of society by contributing to the breakdown of the feudal economy. The story is based in Plymcombe, a small village on the south coast of Devon near the city of Plymouth in the south-west of the UK. Plymcombe is used as a lens to show how a devastating pandemic such as LARD 19 can affect contemporary small communities and their vulnerable inhabitants, and how individuals from different backgrounds and walks of life cope – some better, some worse – in light of the unfolding disaster. The characters used in the story are entirely fictional and any resemblance with real-life characters is purely coincidental. The main characters in the story – Roger the academic, Dan the psycho-therapist, Kevin and Dick the burglars, Josh and Jordan the twins, Beth the GP, single-mum Lisa with her two young children Katie and Tim, Bob and Melinda Hillier with their two sons Pete and Oliver, Horatio Van Gelder the village hermit, Paddy the policeman – all struggle to cope with the effects LARD 19 has on them and their families in their struggle for survival, and their desperate, but ultimately vain, attempts to carry on with life as normal. None of the main protagonists in this novel know what course the pandemic will take in future, whether an effective vaccine will be developed and made available to everybody, or whether the lethal virus will flare up again in mutated form to wreak havoc in future. As is often the case when societies face the ultimate challenge and begin to break down – be it through wars, natural catastrophes.

See more about Geoff and his books at https://gawp.uk/ .